Archive

America is supposed to be a democracy ruled by “We, the people.” Actually it’s rule by bureaucracy. The vast bureaus of federal, state and local governments run our lives, and there’s not much that can be done about it until

Can’t blame this one on Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Thieves ripped off $800,000 of computer equipment from San Jose State. The Contra Costa Times reported: Without a central warehouse or reliable system for keeping track of the valuables

Gov. Jerry Brown offered Christmas Eve pardons to 105 Californians. But before the paperwork reached the Secretary of State’s office, that number was reduced by one. After facing questions from the Los Angeles Times, Brown retracted the pardon of Glen

California’s pension crisis just keeps getting worse. The major crisis now is the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. Gov. Jerry Brown warned about the crisis in his Jan. 2014 budget proposal, but didn’t do anything about it. Election year. We’ll

Lenny Bruce was funnier But Lenny Goldberg is pretty funny, too. Because he’s wasted 40 years attacking Proposition 13, the landmark 1978 property-tax limitation initiative. The Times just ran a puff piece on him. There’s no hint that, in a state

On Jan. 1 California’s fracking law drills in – just as the price of oil has dropped to its lowest levels of recent years. And just as something new from Russia, Plasma Pulse Technology, may make fracking superfluous. Senate Bill

The California Spotted Owl faces extinction unless logging is banned in forests in which “the small and declining owl population” may be found in California’s Sierra Nevadas and the mountains of Southern California. So warns a petition submitted last

On the day before Christmas, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its weekly report on new unemployment claims. While 45 states reported declines, California was one of five states to report an increase. California claims rose by 11,794. To

New year. New tax on gas. It’s AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 finally gouging drivers at the pump. Although industry spokesmen have said the new gas tax could be as much as 70 cents a gallon, it